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Would you buy a used CPU off of Ebay?

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I got my Athlon II x2 on eBay for just short of $30 shipped. It (eventually) unlocked to 3 cores + 6 mb L3 cache and will clock to 3.9 ghz pretty easily (3.95 if two cores). It runs at 3.6 with mostly stock voltages. No complaints here!
 
I would, and have. But I wouldnt buy a haswell off ebay right now. Not even ebay can beat microcenter deals on haswell.
 
sm625 said:
I would, and have. But I wouldnt buy a haswell off ebay right now. Not even ebay can beat microcenter deals on haswell.
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True ... but how many of us actually have access to either a MC OR a Fry's? Both are extremely small chains with VERY limited market exposure. Most people cannot take advantage ...
 
I have certainly done it in the past, but ebay isn't the same site I was using 10 years ago. Its mostly full of small companies now selling new parts and it doesn't have the same second hand culture it had before. I abandoned using it quite some time ago for my own second hand sales and based on the content today I can see almost everyone else did as well. Doesn't mean a sale on there is still a problem, its just ebay is now about obscure things and small firms rather than second hand sales like it once was.
 
I still sell CPUs on eBay. I provide voltage and OC numbers so the buyers understand what they are getting. As discussed above, I have a strict 'no returns' on anything I sell there. I have 100% feedback for 15 years, but don't want to deal with scammers. Buyers have been happy, and I always deliver good items. I have offered 'refunds' in a few occasions where extraordinary conditions appeared, beyond the buyer's control (but I have the ultimate call).
 
Cpus are just about the safest electronics you can buy on ebay. K or otherwise. I laugh at the "don't know what the kid has done" comments. Since most of them are sold by casual users who usually run mild overclocks and system builders selling old items for customer upgrades. The sellers on computer forums in general give you worse clocking chips then ebay. Since they have "dogged" them out trying to get the highest clock possible or dump their worst clocking chips in favor of keeping the better ones. Casual users don't normally care about getting that extra 200 or 300mhz out of a chip.
 
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totally depends. I once bought an engineering sample C2Q extreme edition mobile CPU off of ebay for like 200 bucks. This was about 4 and a half years ago, that thing is still going strong overclocked and overvolted in my M17x. One of the better purchases i've ever made considering the retail QX9300 was going for 500-600 bucks at the time. I wouldn't buy a used CPU off of ebay just to save a couple of bucks though.
 
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I've sold CPUs on eBay before, and it's not so bad. In fact, I should be selling an i7-860 (+ motherboard + RAM + cooler) soon.

Whenever I sell PC components on eBay, I usually state their usage. For example, I don't really ever OC my CPUs, but for some reason, I always buy the K-series processors. So, I'll state exactly that. I may even try to denote that the CPU was kept at a good temperature at all times given things like an aftermarket cooler, good case airflow, good ambient temperatures, etc. For water cooling stuff, I normally mention the lack of dyes in my water, what biocide I used, etc.

Ultimately, the descriptions along with your feedback should try and instill confidence that the buyer isn't getting a piece of junk. Arguably, the more description you give, the safer the buyer can feel, because providing a false description is grounds for a refund.
 
BrightCandle said:
I have certainly done it in the past, but ebay isn't the same site I was using 10 years ago. Its mostly full of small companies now selling new parts and it doesn't have the same second hand culture it had before. I abandoned using it quite some time ago for my own second hand sales and based on the content today I can see almost everyone else did as well. Doesn't mean a sale on there is still a problem, its just ebay is now about obscure things and small firms rather than second hand sales like it once was.
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:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
VirtualLarry said:
I bought some E3300 CPUs for $10 ea months ago on ebay. I stick to USA sellers. I thought that was a good deal, they are basically an E5200 with less cache memory.
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I got my girlfriend an E3300 quite a few years ago new retail. It was the right processor for the right price. Why they labeled it a Celeron is beyond me. It has been rockin at 3GHz (2.5 stock) for years.
 
Yes, but I just turn them into keychains 😛

I'd trust the FS/FT here waaay more than I would ebay, though. That goes for most other tech forums I frequent as well
 
Matt1970 said:
I got my girlfriend an E3300 quite a few years ago new retail. It was the right processor for the right price. Why they labeled it a Celeron is beyond me. It has been rockin at 3GHz (2.5 stock) for years.
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I thought it was quite a deal for $10. Those were pretty good CPUs.

Granted, these days, if I was buying new, I would get a cheap H61 with HDMI, and a Celeron G1610/20 from Ewiz or MC.
 
I've bought quite a few processors on eBay over the years. I've never had a problem. The buyer protection is extensive if you do run into an issue. Buying used is usually good for at least a 30% discount, I think it's worth it.
 
Busted surface mount capacitors on two S771 Xeons, out of four purchased on Ebay this year. And the wrong stepping sent for one of the four cpus (and the stepping matters in Win7/Server2008 x64 Windows installs, BSOD 0x3E). Got an easy refund on the most damaged cpu.

No delicate pins to get bent on the Intel chips, so guys get careless. And some of these old damaged Xeons are from recyclers. And all the chips were $30 or less.
 
I buy cpu's off ebay, but I make sure they were never overclocked, and if the cpu's have pins then I make sure they aren't bent or broke.
 
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